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How is the estate of a man who died leaving a wife, two daughters, two full brothers, and three full sisters to be divided, knowing that the deceased built two apartments with his own money in his grandfather's house and registered them in the names of the two daughters? Is what the deceased built with his own money to be divided?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

What your father built on his father's land belongs to him and his heirs if his father explicitly gifted him the land on which he built the two apartments. However, if his father only permitted him to build without gifting the land, then, according to our jurists, it is considered a loan (عارية) that ends with the grandfather's death. In such a case, the building is appraised as dismantled property, and the grandfather's heirs must pay the builder the value of the two apartments as dismantled property. The building then becomes part of the inheritance, unless they agree otherwise. In case of dispute, the matter should be referred to the Sharia court.

As for the division of the estate, if the deceased left only those mentioned, then his wife receives one-eighth due to the existence of a lineal descendant, as Allah Almighty says: (فَإِنْ كَانَ لَكُمْ وَلَدٌ فَلَهُنَّ الثُّمُنُ مِمَّا تَرَكْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ وَصِيَّةٍ تُوصُونَ بِهَا أَوْ دَيْنٍ) [An-Nisa: 12]. And his two daughters receive two-thirds, as Allah Almighty says: (فَإِنْ كُنَّ نِسَاءً فَوْقَ اثْنَتَيْنِ فَلَهُنَّ ثُلُثَا مَا تَرَكَ) [An-Nisa: 11]. The remainder goes to the full siblings (brothers and sisters) by way of 'asaba (residuary heirs), with the male receiving the share of two females, as Allah Almighty says: (وَإِنْ كَانُوا إِخْوَةً رِجَالًا وَنِسَاءً فَلِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنْثَيَيْنِ) [An-Nisa: 176].

Thus, the inheritance is divided into 168 shares: the wife receives 21 shares, the two daughters receive 112 shares (56 shares each), each full brother receives 10 shares, and each full sister receives 5 shares.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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